


Tenderly - A Steve Rogers & Peggy Carter one shot

by captainofherheart



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: 1940s, Blue dress, F/M, First Avenger fanfic, Stork Club, big band, captain america fanfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 12:49:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11555547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainofherheart/pseuds/captainofherheart
Summary: inspired by the song Tenderly by Jackie GleasonSteve Rogers finally gets to cash in his raincheck and have his dance with Peggy Carter.  Events based off the Marvel movie Captain America - The First Avenger not the comic





	Tenderly - A Steve Rogers & Peggy Carter one shot

**Author's Note:**

> highly recommend loading "Tenderly" by Jackie Gleason before reading. The entire story came out of hearing that song and the feelings it evoked. Hope you enjoy it.

Cold. The air surrounding Steve Rogers was cold and thin as the plane slowly froze over.  The impact from the forced crash landing had thrown him from the seat, trapping him under debris. The combination of severe damage to his body and the bitter cold had left him weakened and  unable to escape the tomb he now found himself in.  

He allowed his mind to drift, body to relax, resisting the urge to free himself as he took stock of the situation.  With every exhale he watched his breath become almost solid as it lingered in the air around him.  He could feel the slow trickle of blood that seeped down his face from a gash in his scalp.  

He was in the middle of nowhere, an icy vastness in every direction.  By bringing the plane down, he had effectively ended the war.  Captain America had done what he was created to do.  There was no more need for a hero.  The mission was complete.  

As for Steve Rogers, what was there to go back for? The only person in this world that truly mattered to him was Bucky and he was gone.  Steve had saved thousands of lives, but the  most important person to him died before his eyes. Died because of him.  He would relive the guilt and that moment every single day and would never forgive himself for not being just a little faster, a little stronger.  No one else mattered to him.  Well, almost no one.  

There was her.  Agent Peggy Carter.  With the war over, there was a possibility they could finally be together.   It meant the world to him that she saw past his physical appearance pre-serum and liked him for who he was.  She saw the man he was in his heart, regardless of the size of the body it was in.  The way she looked at him now was the same way she did in the car on the way to the lab.  She was genuine and she liked Steve, not Captain America.  Bucky had been the best thing about his past, but he was gone.  Peggy brought him hope for the future, she was someone he could possibly build the life he always wanted around.  And she had agreed to go on a date with him Saturday night.  

Steve’s breath caused a mist in the cold air outside as he opened the door to the Stork Club.  Peggy was standing at the edge of the bar. She was turned so only her side view was visible, but what a vision it was to behold.  

Her dark waves were pinned up and hair styled elegantly.  She was wearing a soft blue dress  that hugged her curves.  A red corsage was pinned to her left lapel.  Feeling his eyes upon her, she turned and spotted him, a welcoming smile forming on her bright red lips, the same color as her perfectly painted nails, as he approached. 

She released the breath she was holding and, after a quick lick of those lips, she happily acknowledged, “You made it.”  Peggy looked him up and down, admiring how handsome he looked in his Army dress uniform. 

“Of course I did, couldn’t leave my best girl waiting.”  Reaching up to push a stray hair back into place, Steve allowed the back of his fingertips to gently trace down the side of her face.  When he caught her chin with his thumb, she teasingly smacked his hand away.

“You’re late,” she chastised.  Her expression was serious, but her eyes danced with warmth and playfulness.  

“It's 8:01!” he protested.

“I said 8 pm sharp!” she admonished.

Steve looked down sheepishly before peeking at her through his long lashes.  “Should I leave?”

Looking at him seriously this time she cautioned in a choked voice, “Steve Rogers, don't you dare! I thought I'd never see you again.”  Peggy’s eyes glistened in the soft, smoky light as she looked at his face.  With a voice that quivered slightly she chided, “I guess I can forgive the tardiness this one time.”  She quickly wiped a tear from the edge of her eye, blinking quickly to hold the rest in place.

Reaching out he took her hands in his and confessed, “I was afraid of that too, but here I am.”  

Trying to lighten the moment he shrugged his shoulders. “It was a hell of a long walk, Peg.” 

They laughed lightly at the joke as Steve briefly glanced around the room.  He raised a brow, wanting to change the mood and make this time with her count.  “Still willing to teach me how to dance?”

“It would be my honor, Captain Rogers.”

“I’ll go ask the band to play something slow,” he said before giving the back of her hand a kiss and setting off.  After a quick talk with the band leader, he returned to her side, extending his hand to her.  

“Shall we?”

Peggy took the offered hand and found herself spun into position in his arms.  He held her firmly around the waist, resting his palm against the small of her back.  As the band began to play the song "Tenderly", they began to move.  His left hand trembled slightly as he held hers. 

“You’ve been lying to me, Steve, I thought you said you didn’t know how to dance.”

With a quick laugh, he protested, “I don’t!”

“Well then, you’re a natural,” she complimented.

He thought about it for a moment, realizing that maybe the ability to dance was there all along, just waiting for the right partner.  They slow danced to the melody, which was somehow romantic and bittersweet all at the same time.  Steve turned her, leading them in a perfect box step, dipping her when the moment seemed right. He inhaled her fragrant scent, closing his eyes momentarily in the hopes of burning it into his memory forever.  Other than that, their eyes never left each others, neither did their smiles.  

“I’m so happy you made it back to me, Steve,” she confessed. 

“I promised you a dance. I’d never break a promise to you, Peggy.”

The pair moved a bit slower, the motions becoming smaller. 

The music played softer and the room appeared just a bit foggier.  As the temperature in the plane dropped swiftly, his brain began to notice and reality tried to seep into his daydream. The super soldier’s body was finally succumbing to the effects of the bitter cold.  

“Is everything alright, Steve?”

Looking at her lovingly, he assured her, “I’m with you, Peggy. Everything is perfect.”

No longer able to move his legs, the dancing became more of a slow swaying together from side to side.

“Steve, your hand…” she fretted, before releasing it to wrap her arms around him, holding his body close to hers.  “Steve, you’re so cold.”  She raised a hand to touch his face as she brought her lips to brush against his.  “You’re freezing, my love.”

Holding her as tightly as his stiffening arms would allow, he kissed her back. 

“I know I am, but it’s ok.  It’s what I had to do to keep you safe, to keep everyone safe.  It was my choice.”

Burying his face into her sweet smelling hair, he avowed, “As long as I have you in my arms, I’ll never feel the cold, I’ll never see the dark.  You’re my light.  Stay with me, let’s make this dance last forever.”  

Never one to give up, he pushed through the cold that was threatening to stop the dance.  He forced his legs to move again, refusing to let anything separate him from the angel before him.  They smiled at each other as the band began the song again, just for them.

Steve Roger’s vital functions had slowed and all but stopped as the effects of the cold took over.  He drifted off into a long slumber, kept company by Peggy Carter, who danced in his arms for the next 70 years. 


End file.
